IAAUS- A FBCB 2010 Dynasty

[muns]

Sweet 16


#4 WVU loses to #1 Michigan State 82-85... Least they kept it close
#8 Georgetown loses to #13 Hofstra 80-72.. This one pisses me off. No way that should have happened, but it did....



NIT


#1 Louisville beats #3 Washington 66-57

[muns]

NIT Semi-Finals


#1 Louisviflle beats #8 UMASS 71-62

[muns]

NIT Finals

#1 Louisville beats #1 Houston 81-74

At least the Big East wins something

[muns]

IAAUS Final 4


#3 Temple beats #7 Ohio State 53-51

#1 Oklahoma State loses to #2 Florida 65-79


Title Game

#2 Florida crushes #3 Temple 73-47

[muns]

As I was looking through the awards I noticed that the Big East has won the National Player of the year 4 years stright

2017- Carl Coffin WVU
2016- Armando Sly Syracuse
2015- Andrew Gillette
2014- Avery Mcnutt Syracuse

Neat stuff there

[muns]

Well this season was a dissapointment

None of our schools made it out of the Sweet 16 including 2 of our Power houses in UCONN and Syracuse. Lousiville won the NIT, which proved they should have been in the tourney so that was nice, however they should have made the tourney and they need to win some more big games.

Clearly Edward Slade is a freaking problem with Nova, I just need to find the right guy to replace him there, and I think some of my early hires 4 seasons ago arent living up to expectations, so there should be some choices to make there as well.

Should be an interesting offseason with who stays and who goes in the Big East.

[muns]

Color me shocked with this years recruiting class rankings. Im estatic about them.

Not only do we have the number 1 overall class again, but 4 are in the top 25, 8 are in the top 50's, and 13 ranked in the top 100......

Providence at 25 just blows me away, then you have the St, Johns, the Cincinnattis, the Rutgers, all out recruiting Georgetown, Syracuse and WVU. Thats just nutty!!!!

[muns]

Coach Evaluations are next, however def want to watch some ball again tonight, not sure if going to continue this tonight or not.

[muns]

Big East Evaluation of Coaches



Cincinnati-Gary Martinez- Gary's job is safe this year after he improved in the big east by 2 games going 8-10 respectively. More importantly however was his ability to land a good recruiting class (40th in the nation) and in that class are 3 kids vs his 1 or 2 he has been getting. The continued development of Center Clement Fernandez is huge as he averaged 11.5 points, 6 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Prized recruit in last years class PG Neville Goodrich didn't make the splash I was hoping, however he did get 16 mins per game and averaged a little over 5 points in those mins. I hope Gary continues to improve the Bearcats and gets them close to .500 in the Big East. We are starting to get to the point where I'm going to have to make a call here soon if I think he is the correct coach to lead the program back to the big time. Hopefully for his sake these freshman develop some, and he bring in another good class this year.


Connecticut-Devin Foust- UCONN had a down year for them last season. Getting bounced in the 2nd round of the IAAUS Tournament isn't fun but in 2 years Devin has won 60 games. Thats awfully tough to do. He brought in 5 recruits this season and 4 of them look to be pretty good. Combine this years number 1 overall recruiting class with last years 10th overall and the future is still really bright in Connecticut. PF William Hamlett didn't have the impact I expected him too have last year in his starting role only getting 6 points, 8 boards and a block per game. I would hope all of those numbers improve this year to help UCONN take that step back to the Elite 8's that I am accustomed to them doing year in and year out.


DePaul-Freeman Wallace- Freeman showed why he was the correct choice hiring him 4 years ago. In his 4th year DePaul won 17 games (the most ever in its history) and went to the NIT (the first ever post season in the programs history). This years recruiting class didn't rank all that well 92nd overall, however 2 of the guys should develop into guys that will play roles on the team (SF- Christian Fergueson and SG-Chester Williard). Even if Freeman stumbles his job should be safe for the time being. They keep improving every year he is here and since the program was 5-27 when he got hired DePaul has come a long long way. Who knows, he keeps going like this and he may get promoted within his own Conference!!!



Georgetown- Ken Ortiz- Georgetown continues to get higher under Coach Ken Ortiz. Last seasons Sweet 16 finish was the 2nd of his career and he now holds an overall record of 202-82. I don't see why G-Town doesn't continue to develop and keep making deep runs into the IAAUS tournament. I was however concerned about his 104th rated recruiting class but upon closer inspection the guys are pretty good and I expect them to make an impact on the program in the near future. They aren't throwaway's like I thought. Ken just needs to keep being Ken and he won't be going anywhere.



Louisville- Daniel Eakin- I'm not all that sure that Eakin is the correct fit for the Cardinals program. I think he was a good hire (before I got here) however he has these ups and downs that shouldn't happen at a consistently dominant program, a Program that Louisville should be. In his 5 years they have missed the post season twice, gone to the NIT (last season and won it) once, and have only made the IAAUS twice getting knocked out in the first and 2nd rounds. His record at Louisville is 100-66 going 42-48 in Big East play. Nothing Stellar about his record in the Big East. I think I'm going to shop around and see if I can find someone better. If I can't he will be back or there is also a possibility of a move within the Conference. I'm kicking around a few ideas on how to re shuffle a few guys and he might be in that group.


Marquette- Daniel Bullington- Not a whole lot I can say about Marquette. Daniel didn't exactly come when the cupboard was full if you know what I mean. He landed the 25th class 2 years ago, and now this year nets the 127th. Clearly a step in the wrong direction especially since one of the kids this year was a 2 star waste of a scholarship. Still have a few more years until I can really evaluate where the program is and how much of an impact, good or bad Bullington has had. He more than likely has 2 years left before I look to decide on his future.


Notre Dame-David Scott- Back to back first round losses for Notre Damn the past 2 seasons. Is it time to panic???? For me no, however the Notre Damn faithful have been going nuts about it..... Why in the world would I get rid of a guy that has 199 career wins and a title under his belt??? I simply wouldn't. On the flip side of that I wouldn't say I wouldn't give him another job...... There might be some room to play around here coaching wise and like I said earlier I maybe moving some guys around and David could be on that shortlist.


Pittsburgh-Booker Duck- Booker is gone.... A promising young coach really has pissed away a great opportunity to become the savior for a once Proud Proud program.... Booker hasn't recruited well in his 3 seasons. Granted the quality of kids that he was able to get where great, but landing 3kids in 3 years just cant happen and that is why there will be a new coach with the Panthers next season.


Providence- Daniel Hansen- I love what Providence has done in the 2 years under Hansen. No they haven't wont a lot of games, a total of 22 in 2 seasons, however he has recruited his butt off, and recruiting a top 25 class this year to go along with 4 star recruit(last season) PG Isiah James and you can see this team on the up and up. Hopefully the recruiting trend continues and he can land another great class to go with what he already has. This team only has 7 scholarship kids on the roster so he can leave a huge imprint quickly and right the ship. I am enjoying Daniel so far.


Rutgers- Isiah Morley- Isiah has never won more than 11 games in his 4 seasons in Rutgers and that is starting to become a major concern. One of my first hires in the Big East I had real high hopes for Isiah especially since he is at his alma matter. Nabbing the 46th best recruiting class this year helps, especially since they do not have a lot of depth, but if he cant start to put it together, he wont last more than 2 years, if he gets that. Isiah and Rutgers are on the fence and he very well might be out in a season or two if there are no real improvement in the win department.


Seton Hall- Maynard Obryan- I believe that Maynard has the Hall on the right path. This will be his 5th year and although he was an idiot an scheduled some tough road games last year, he did win 10 Big East games which is the most in programs history. The talent is on his roster this year and I'm hoping he can make a run at the IAAUS tournament. That would be huge for recruiting as he is going to loose 5 Seniors from his squad at the end of the year. He landed the 52nd best class this year, however they were only 2 kids in that class. This upcoming class will make or break this program. Is it on the rise??? Or will it tank and prob end his coaching career at Seton Hall in a few years??? Time will tell here.


South Florida-Stanford Ericson- Well Stanford did what I kind of asked him to do and he won this year. He ended up going 20-15, and 10-8 in the big east. The only problem with that was that he didn't win enough to make the IAAUS Tournament (which he should have, the talent was there) and he only won 1 game in the NIT. He time has run its course at South Florida but I can't help but think he would be ok somewhere else. His 111th recruiting class doesn't help the program or himself and I'm thinking that his 6 year run with South Florida has just ended.


St. John's- Chris Killingsworth- Chris had another good class, which makes that 2 years in a row. Finally St. Johns might start to be decent again. He started 3 freshman this past year and did bring in the 38th rated class this year. I'm not sure how its all going to pan out for him though. I can see him being here another 5 years, but then again I can see him being here another 2 and that being that. He actually has the talent to prob finish at least .500 in conf for this upcoming season, just not sure how he is going to fare because they are just so so young. Chris might be on his last leg with St. Johns.


Syracuse- Jacinto Gomez- He has finished with 30 win seasons 3 straight years and if it wasn't for a single season with 29 that would actually be 6 straight seasons. No doubt he is one of the best coaches in the game and a guy that will easily finish in the top 5 in just about every single coaching category there is. He prob will finish his career in an Orange Sports Coat as he can write his own ticket at this point I think. He didn't have a great recruiting class this year for the first time in his coaching stint, but his team is so talented I don't think its honestly going to matter much, especially if he makes up for it this upcoming season. I still see the Orange going deep in the big tourney.

Villanova- Edward Shade- Point blank his first round exit has sealed his fate at Nova, just not sure If I'm going to keep him on the Big East coaching roster though. He has done enough recruiting wise to be a valued member of the community, he just cant coach himself out of a wet paper bag come the IAAUS tournament time.


West Virginia- James Johnson- WVU made it to the Sweet 16 this past season even though they had no business doing so. James like Jacinto at Syracuse could prob write his own ticket with his 3 titles and walk into a hall of fame, but I'm not convinced WVU is the best fit for his talents. He hasn't recruited well as of late and while that isn't a reason for him to switch jobs, him being at a school that could use his talents is...... I'm not sure if He is going to get caught up in the shake up, but he is on my mind for it. I'm sure WVU fans would go nuts, but thats why I'm here doing what I'm doing and they are sitting at home Decisions decesions......

[muns]

So this season we are going to have a coaching carousel in the Big East and my priorities are as follows



1. I am looking for a new coach at Nova and hoping I can retain Slade at another Big East School

2. I'm looking for a new coaching in Pittsburgh

3. If I can find one I'm looking for a new coach in South Florida

4. I am looking for a new coach in Louisville If I can find the right fit.

[muns]

Possible candidate list


James Lucier- Assistant at Duke. Ratings of 8-5-10-10. Record of 121-71 at Utah State and Arizona. Was a beast at Utah State, however was just average at Arizona which is why they gave him his walking papers.


Jerry Lebron- Assistant at Tennessee. Ratings of 1-10-10-7 Record of 81-76. He spent 5 years at Murray State being just about 500 making the NIT once. At Tennessee he has helped get them to 3 straight Sweet 16 appearances.


Robert Dutcher- Head Coach at Old Dominion- Ratings of 2-10-10-6. Record of 185-87 in 8 seasons at ODU. He has a plethora of IAAUS tournament experience


John Gorman- Head Coach- UNC Wilmington- Ratings of 10-3-7-6. Record of 58-39. Only been a head coach for 3 seasons but has made the post seasons twice. Also worked at FSU and was part of 2 Elite 8 teams and 1 Sweet 16 team in 5 years as an assistant there.


Ray Bowyer- Head Coach Utah Valley State- Ratings of 6-2-10-9. Record of 161-91 with 6 post season trips to the NIT, 4IT, and 3BI.

Dean Castellano- Head Coach Butler- Ratings of 7-8-7-4. Record of 160-98 Between Santa Clara and Butler. Butler took him away from Santa Clara, he wasn't fired. Has been in the IAAUS tournament 4 times.

Elliot Wideman- Detroit Head Coach. Ratings of 6-8-5-10. Record of 169-91 with 3 different schools. Cal Northride, Nevada and now Detroit. All 3 he got hired and moved on. Has been to the IAAUS twice, NIT 3 times, and the 3BI twice.

Carl Young- Central Michigan Head Coach. Ratings of 6-6-10-6. Record of 144-114. He has been at Weber State and Central Michigan. Between the 2 schools has made 2 IAAUS trips, 2 NIT trips and a single 3BI trip.

Thomas Desilva-Sam Houston State Head Coach. Ratings of 6-1-8-10. Record of 190-77. Has made a post season every single year of his career that spans two schools Quinnipiac and Sam Houston State.

Michael Cothran Stephen F. Austin Head Coach- Ratings of 5-3-10-9. Record of 174-88. Has missed the post season only twice in his career at Steven F Austin.


Sylvester Jablonski-Arkansas-Little Rock Head Coach- Ratings of 7-2-10-6. Has only been a head coach for 2 years but has a record of 48-18 already. He also spent 6 years as an assistant at Florida and New Mexico making the IAAUS tournament in every season.

[muns]

So after doing some thinking and searching I have made my decisions for the upcoming season in the Big East.


1. Pittsburgh- Ive gone and moved Edward Shade from Villanova to Pittsburgh. I actually think this might be a good fit. Edward was able to always recruit at Nova, and Pitt has really struggled to get kids the past 4 of so years. If Edward can recruit the way he did at Nova then this should work out and maybe he can finally get the heck out of my dog house.


2. Villanova- I am going to bring on James Lucier from Duke. James is a vet and I think he can do a good job with the Villanova squad already in place. The only question here is if he can do as good of a job recruiting as Edward Shade did. With an 8 rating in recruiting James seems like he can do it, but had a 9 and did bring in some decent classes..... Time will tell with this hire, but I'm Hopeful that James can do the job.


3. Louisville- I have decided to give Ray Bowyer the Head Coach at Utah Valley State the first crack at this job. Ray has won everywhere he has gone and has decent Ratings of 6-2-10-9. Louisville has a Prestige of 71 which is decent but needs to be better. Ray inherits a team that lacks depth but does have some talent. Hopefully Ray can do his work quickly as he will be under the microscope right away and won't have much wiggle room for error. I do not want this program to loose more ground than it already has.


4. South Florida- Thomas Desilva from Sam Houston State Head Coach seems to make the most sense to me here. With ratings of 6-1-8-10 and a record of 190-77 it's hard to argue on why he should not get hired. I love the fact that he has made the post season every year he has been coaching. They have some talent in South Florida but not enough. So essentially he won't be starting from scratch but he doesn't have a whole lot to work with either.

[muns]

Coaching Changes


ACC


Maryland- Mickinly Acosta Retired. They hired recently removed Louisville Head Coach Daniel Eakin


Big 12


Corlorado- Fired Justin Wadsworth who went 37-57 in three seasons in Bolder. They hire former South Florida Coach Stanford Ericson



Big 10

None


Pac-10

None


SEC

None

[muns]

Mike Schaplowsky stays on at Baylor for another year. I was surprised, I would have thought he would start to get looks for a head coaching jobs this year.

[muns]

Big East starts the year off with 5 teams ranked in the top 25

5. Villanova
6. Syracuse
12.UCONN
15. Georgetown
16. Notre Dame


Michigan State starts off at number one and looking at their roster they are stacked as usual. 6 guys are all blues, 3 are green blues, 1 yellow blue, 2 orange greens, and one orange yellow.

[Marmel]

This is a fantastic dynasty!

[Young Drachma]

I see you're still going strong, muns. Good stuff man. I need to get caught up.

[muns]

Thanks guys. Its been really fun, and its nice knowing that people are reading. I apprecaite it!

[muns]

Big East Standings

Needless to say that I am not all that shocked by the regular season standings this year. You have the usuals on top like we do every year so really no changes there.

I like the progress that both Seton Hall and Cincinnati have both made. At 9-9 in the Big East and then winning 17 and 18 games a piece, they have both come a ways from when their respective coaches took over.

I also feel good about Nova's record. I was worried about what was going to happen when I replaced Edward Shade however new coach James Lucier did a good job netting 22 wins

I hope Cincy and Seton Hall have a decent Big East tourney showing so that they have a shot at making the Big Dance. Rpi's are at 57, and 79 so its going to be tough

[muns]

Funny I should mention that. Seton Hall takes the Big East on an amzing run in the tournament. They beat Notre Dame for the crown 92-91 who was the number 2 seed!

Neat stuff there!

[muns]

Tourament Teams


Big East- 7 Teams
ACC- 8 Teams
Big Ten- 2 Teams (Lowest total for any major conf that I have EVER seen)
Big 12- 8 Teams
Pac-10- 4 Teams
SEC- 5 teams

Its also becoming clear to me that the ACC is just running the basketball world now. They are putting in the most teams in the the big dance year in and year out now.

[muns]

NIT

#8 Pitt beats #9 Central Arkansas 97-59
#1 Cincinnati beats #8 Chattanooga 80-55

Cincy clearly was one of the last few teams out of the IAAUS show, which is a shame.

[muns]

IAAUS First Round Action


#4 Notre Dame beats #11 Pepperdine 89-49
#11 Seton Hall beats #6 Virginia for a HUGE UPSET 85-75
#9 Georgetown beats #8 LSU 90-73
#7 WVU beats #10 Florida State 84-82

Great Showing today for the Big EAST!!!!!



NIT

#8 Pitt loses to #1 UTEP 87-90
#5 Louisville beats #4 Dayton 100-89

[muns]

IAAUS First Round Action


#1 UCONN beats #16 South Dakota State 98-53
#6 Syracuse loses to #11 Mississippi State in a shocker 77-80
#5 Villanova beats #12 Kent State 89-71. Already James Lucier does better than what Edward Slade was able to do. Good Start for Nova finally!

[muns]

IAAUS Second Round Action


#11 Seton Hall beats #14 Cal State Northridge 71-69. The magical run continues for the HALL!!!!!
#4 Notre Dame beats #5 UCLA 86-80
#9 Georgetown with a nice upset of #1 Miami 90-84
#7 WVU beats #15 Monmouth 82-63




NIT

#1 Cincy loses to #4 Arizona State 70-80

[muns]

IAAUS Second Round Action


#1 UCONN beats #9 Illionois 71-59
#5 Villanova loses to #4 USC 45-71


NIT

#5 Louisville loses to #1 Gonzaga 97-74

[muns]

Sweet 16


#1 UCONN gets crushed by #4 Wake Forest 98-80
#7 WVU beats #3 Temple 77-64
#4 Notre Dame loses to #1 Clemson 68-76
#11 Seton Hall beats #7 Washington 80-78. This is just awesome to see!!
#9 Georgetown loses to #5 Xavier 79-88


While its a shame we couldnt get more into the elite 8 I think having 5 out of the 16 teams in this round is pretty damn good.

[muns]

Elite 8


#7 WVU beats #8 USC 89-75
#11 Seton Hall gets crushed by #1 Clemson 95-59. Hell of a run by the Hall. From going from being on the bubble to winning the Big East to making an lite 8 run. Seton Hall has been a huge improvement!!!

[muns]

Final 4

#7 WVU loses to #4 Wake Forest 88-91
#1 Clemson loses to #2 Michigan State 70-78


Championship Game

#2 Michigan State cruises past #4 Wake Forest 71-48.

So Michigan State continues it's dominance of the IAAUS.

[muns]

The recruiting rankings to me are not what I was expecting at all. Its both good and bad.

DePaul at 22 is neat to see, so is Rutgers at 28 and Providence at 36. So our mid to bottom teams looks like they will be doing better in the future.

[muns]

Conference Movement that affects the Big East


Rutgers heads to the A-10 and moving up to the Big time is Temple

Rutgers has a Prestige of 51 and Temple has a Prestige of 93.

[muns]

Originally Posted by muns

As I was looking through the awards I noticed that the Big East has won the National Player of the year 4 years stright

2017- Carl Coffin WVU
2016- Armando Sly Syracuse
2015- Andrew Gillette
2014- Avery Mcnutt Syracuse

Neat stuff there

Make this 5 straight years with WVU'S Junior PG Rocco Summerlin taking home the National Player of the year award again this year

[muns]

In a stunning announcement The Big East will be looking for a new Conference Commish.

I have stepped down and turned in my resignation. In the end the IAAUS board of regents was not happy that the Big East was not the crown Jewel of the IAAUS basketball universe and there was some pressure on the Big East Board that if I did not step down I would be let go.

Go figure, the NCAA gets dis banded because of the BS that was going on off the court behind the scences and not even what, 15 years later we are going right back to the same type of BS.

I'm not sure what they are looking for as the Big East has the most Sweet 16 teams last season, has the most titles out of any of the conferences with 4 (Big 10 is a close second with Michigan State landing that cof 3) and again the best players (5 national players of the year in a row). I don't have a clue what the heck I did wrong, but what is done is done.

I'm sure another major conference would be interested in me. Who knows where Ill land but this wont end with me not working.......

[muns]

A few days have passed by with only one of the major 7 conferences giving me a call. The Conferenes that are all ranked with a 5 Prestige are The Big East, The Big 10, the Pac-10, the Big 12, the SEC, the ACC, and Conference USA.

Im intrigued by the offer, but the money simply isn't there, and they are low balling me pretty bad.

I am beginning to think this might be the year I step away from baskeball and I start to ponder what the heck I would even do with my downtime.

Then my phone rings and its my agent. He tells me that I need to hop on a plane and head to DC to meet with a few people that are going to give me an offer that he thinks I am going to want to hear. I ask "well can you give me a clue" and his response was that he didnt even know who it was but they money figure they were throwing around had to be from a major conf and that they just wanted to keep it secret until the time was right.

I hung up the phone with my head spinning, trying to find the next flight to DC.

[muns]

I land, head to the hilton and my agent calls and tells me the meeting is at midnight...... Midnight???? What the heck is going on I say to myself. This is pretty weird if you ask me, but hey I don't have much to loose right.

I check in, head to the room to get a shower and get ready to meet whoever I'm supposed to be meeting in a few hours up in the penthouse.

I still have no idea why this needs to be in secret but hey whatever. I'm not really sure what I would be doing if I wasn't doing this so I am at least busy.

I look at my watch after throwing on a suit, putting on a tie and throwing some gel in my hair.

11:45....

Heading up early is what I am going to do. I'd rather be early than late, and if there is some competition for this job early is the first impression I want to give.

I head on over to the Elevators and am greeted by a rather small bell boy who cant look any more than 19. He asks if I was the guy he was supposed to take to the pent house. I laughed and asked him why would he think that.

"Well sir you are the only one in a suit at midnight on the 10th floor heading to an elevator.......

SIGH..... a 19 year old punk getting a rise out of me. "HA" my night is off to a wonderful start.

We get into the elevator, he puts in his key and away we go....


DING.... DING..... The doors open and I get out into a small hallway with a door 5 feet away. As I approach the door, I can't help but wonder who is behind it.......

I look down at my watch 11:53..... I adjust my tie, brush my arms and knock on the door.....

Its go time

[muns]

I stand there for 30 seconds, and nothing.....

Then it hits me like a ton of bricks.... Did I seriously just knock on a door to a penthouse and expect someone to hear me???

I need to take a deep breath, stop worrying about what the heck is going on and stop making stupid mistakes... Get a freaking hold of myself....

I find the doorbell on the side of the door and can hear the chimes ringing inside.

I take a deep breath, step back a little bit and wait for the door to open up to a possible new future. A new life, and a chance to get my reputaion back

[muns]

The door opened and I was greeted by a older gentleman. He invited me in and told me that a few people were running a bit late but that I could have a look around the suite in the meantime.

I watched him walk back into a back room out of sight and I turned around to take in my surroundings.

It looked like I was in the main living room and it also looked like a few people were already here by the looks of the table in front of me.

Now that I think about it the man didnt introduce himself either. This was getting weirder by the moment. I however hadn't exactly been in a penthouse before and this was pretty cool stuff to me. As much as I wanted to know what the heck was going on, I was doing my best to just play it cool and wait till I was needed.

[muns]

I had just walked over the the left and gone over to some double doors to take in the view of the city when a womans voice called out and asked me to follow her up the stairs to the meeting room.

Wow, really?????


Alright I said and made my way towards her as she went up the stairs.

At the top she greeted me, said good luck, handed me a drink and said they would be in shortly.

"UMMMM OK" is about all I managed to get out.

[muns]

I walked in took in my surroundins once again, finally sat down and waited for whoever was going to come into the beautiful board room.

There were only 6 chairs around the table and then another 8 bar stools that were positioned about 8 feet away that went all around the "L" shaped bar.

Talk about cryptic. I quickly finished my drink and then the door opened. I swallowed hard and thats when the bar tender walked into the room and went behind the bar.

The suspense was eating me up

[muns]

Finally in what felt like 5 hours the doors opened again, and in walked 3 men and 2 woman. They all walked over greeted me didn't introduce themselves and all proceeded to walk over to the bar. One of the guys asked if I wanted another drink and I said "why not".

After getting their drinks they took a seat and the bar tender came over to give me another drink of "red death". These people clearly did their homework as I haven't said much to anyone yet let alone ordered anything yet but they knew what I liked to drink.

One of the women looked at me and and said "so I guess we should start going into why we asked you here, and who we are huh"? I smiled and said "ya that would be nice".

Well we represent a number of powerful people that would like you to become the next Conference Commish of the America East.

If I had taken a sip of my "death" I would have spit it out. "Excuse me, did you say the America East????

My mind was just blown. I'm thinking Seriously???? Powerful people looking out for the America East???? Is this a joke, you had me fly down here ASAP, didn't tell me a thing, and then are going to talk to me about one of the worst conferences in the IAAUS??? Get the F out of here, I can't believe I wasted all this time coming down here, and actually thought this might be my next big gig.

She broke the silence. "Yes I said the America East. We represent people that want you to be the next commissioner of the America East and have already paid a lot of money to get the ball rolling on this.

"You honestly want me to be the next commish of the one of the worst conferences in the college game"? Why? I can't even tell you who is in that conference"!!!

The response I got was because "our people though that you were the best person for the job and will not take no for an answer".

"Well I am really flattered here but folks I apologize that I have just wasted everyone's time. I have no interest in this job as it doesn't do a whole lot for me. As you know I basically got asked to resign from the Big East for no reason and I have a lot to prove. The America East has nothing to offer me. I thought this was going to be a meeting in which one of the other major conferences was going to offer me something but this is proposal is just out of the question."

One of the gentlemen then said "what if we doubled your salary from the Big East and would make sure with your budgets you could hire just about anyone you wanted for the coaching positions?"

It was now time for me to finish my drink. Double my salary? Wait wait wait I said. You said earlier on that "people have already paid a lot of money to get the ball rolling on this". What the heck did that mean?

Well can we be blunt?

Here we go.....I said sure.....

Like you have already stated the American East isn't very good, but they do represent some powerful alumni specifically Boston University. They want to see the conference do better, gain a much better reputation, and I some people want to see a few schools move up the ladder to bigger and better things (IE better conferences).

Can I get another drink???? If I thought my mind was spinning before, now the entire room was spinning.

Well why don't you just pay some people to make this happen for them. Clearly you have deep pockets.....

The woman looked at me again and said because when the NCAA disbanded specific rules were put into place, and the IAAUS will not let the conference movement rule will not be broken. In order to move up you need to win. In order to win you need a good conf commish to find the correct coaches to get everyones Prestige on the upswing. Are you following us?? You are being offered this job because so much money was thrown at the Big East board of Regents that they had to take it..... Now they want you to collect, and make this happen.


And if I refuse????


Lets me honest here Jeremy, if you were going to refuse you wouldn't have ordered another drink, and you still wouldn't be sitting here. You have no job, and can you think of the fame and fortune if you rose the Conference Prestige Level up? We are confident that you can see the big picture here.


Drink number 3...... Down the Hatch......

[muns]

Wow am I seriously going to do this????


OK so i said let me ask you guys another question here. You mentioned Boston University right? So whats so special about them, why specifically say them?


The answer that I got nearly knocked me to the floor.


Boston U is the main one driving this, but do not think that the rest of the Conference isn't behind this. They just have the most players putting up the most money...

Just as I was going to ask another question, in walked some of the people that we were just starting to talk about.


I immediately recognize the 2 men that walked in the door and Howard Stern looks at me and goes what you don't think I like sports??? I went to Boston U. I want them to be relevant along with the Conference they are in.

Next up was sports personality Bill Simmons. You know I like sports too and like Howard just said I'd like to see them win...... Everyone has targeted you to make it happen. Our Alumni want this bad!!!

Think you can do it????


The only thing that came out of my mouth was Drink number 4 please!!!!!

[muns]

As I started to ponder my situation a contract was slid from one of the gentleman's brief cases.

Your move he said...


Howard and Bill then went off about as long as it all stayed hush hush, they could use their influence with both the radio and print to help with just about everything I needed... Ya know to go alongside all the cash people wanted to just start throwing at me.

Ahhhh hell i said, double my salary huh...... I started to imagine where this could lead as I signed my name to that contract....

This has some serious potential to benefit both the America East and myself. Screw the Big East, Screw the other big Conferences, I have now alligned myself with the little guys. This should be a fun challenge and I can not wait to get it started!!!!

[muns]

America East Evaluation


This Conference really is a joke.


Albany- Prestige is 13 and they are 110-165 totally. In 9 years they have never had a 20 win season and have yet to make any kind of post season.


Binghamton- Prestige is 32 and they are 164-129 totally. They have won 4 Regular Season championships and 2 tournament championships. They have had four 20+ winning seasons, been to the IAAUS tournament twice, the NIT twice, and the 4IT once.


Boston University- Prestige is 14 and they are 114-161 totally. They have never made any post season in 9 years and do not have a 20+ season to date.


Hartford- Prestige is 17 and they are 118-159 totally. They have 1 conference tournament championship and have made the IAAUS tournament once. They have no 20+ win seasons to date.


Maine- Prestige is 12 and they are 95-180. Gosh that is sad. They haven't even hit 100 wins yet. Clearly no 20+ winning seasons and have never made any post season tournament.


New Hampshire- Prestige is also 12 and they are 108-167 totally. They too do not have any 20+ winning seasons and have never made a post season tournament.


Stony Brook- Their Prestige is 22 and they are 126-157. They have 1 regular season title and 2 conference tournament titles. They haven't won 20+ games however they have made the IAAUS tournament twice, the NIT once, and the 4 IT once.


UMBC- Their Prestige is 20 and they are 159-133 totally. They have won 1 regular season title and 2 conference tournaments. They have had three 20+ win seasons and have made 2 IAAUS tournaments appearances along with, a trip to the NIT and 3BI tournaments.


Vermont- Their Prestige is 29 and they have gone 159-130 in 9 seasons. They have 3 regular season conference championships and 2 conference tournament championships. They have won 20+ games twice, have been to the IAAUS twice, the NIT 3 times, and the 4IT once.

[muns]

America East Evaluation of Coaches



Albany-William Braxton. He has been here all 9 years and has gone 110-165. Has never won more than 9 conference games. I have no idea how this guy lasted this long.... He is gone


Binghamton-Allan Travis- He has been here for 5 years going 91-73. he has won 2 conference titles and looks like does a decent job for them. Before coming here he was an Assistant at BYU for 4 seasons losing in the 2nd round twice, and making it to the sweet 16 twice.


Boston University-Chris Sager. Chirs has been at Boston for 4 years going 40-80. He spent 3 years at Nevada before this stop, and then 2 years before that at Cal Northridge. While there he didn't have a ton of success as an assistant so him getting this job is puzzling. He is gone.


Hartford-Kevin Wilson. Kevin has been here all 9 years going 118-159. Not a whole lot to say except he sucks. He also wont be back for the upcoming season.


Maine-Danny McKelvey. Another loser. Has gone 95-180. Again NEXT!


New Hampshire-Emile Larios. I don't know what is up with this conference and sticking with loser coaches but the trend continues. He has only been here 6 seasons but he is 76-106 with no real improvement. Another one bites the dust!


Stony Brook-George Salerno. He has gone 126-157 but has won some. He hasn't lost more than 8 games in the conf in 6 straight seasons. If he first 2 years didn't suck he prob would be right around .500 for his career. Not sure what I am going to do with him. I think I need to see the coaches available before making a call on him.


UMBC-Domenic Oberg- He is 70-60 in his 4 years on the job. Not great, but isn't horrible either. Like George above, I want to see the other coaches before making a call on him as well.

Vermont- Floyd Smith - He is also falling into the wait and see category. He is 36-31 in 2 seasons at the helm including a conf title. Just not sure i like him or not. Safe for now until I see other coaches that are available.

[muns]

ok so before I keep going I wanted to explain the change.

As I kept going with the Big East I realized that once my good coaches retired I was not playing on the same playing field as the other big confrences.

I couldnt hire any of the head coaches I was competing with, and without some kind of barrier that I wasnt thinking of it just wouldnt be fun.

By heading to a lower conference, I still cant hire any good head coaches, however I do get to have my pick from assistants, and the assistants are qualified to run these teams, where as they were not qualified to run the big time programs.

So in case anyone was wondering thats why the sudden change as I really did want to keep this going.

As another side rule I am now going to turn on the "allow humans to recieve job offers" function and will move any of my head coaches up that deserve to be moved up and realistically would if offered a bigger job.

[muns]

Potential Candidate list who are all current assistant coaches


Chris Wingard -Dayton. Ratings of 4-8-8-8 and an overall record of 106-89. Was the head coach at Belmot and UAB. Was great at Belmont, struggled at UAB the first season then took them to .500 the second and was fired for it. Has won a conf championship. Been At Dayton the past 3 years going to the post season all 3.


Whitney Arguello-Rhode Island- Ratings of 9-3-6-7 and hasnt been a head coach yet. Spent 4 years at Michigan and the past 5 at Rhode Island. While at Rhode Island they have made a post season tourament all 5 years.


Jonas Marr- Xavier- Ratings of 10-10-2-3 and an overall record of 131-92. Spent 7 years at Winthrop before getting canned his last year for going .500. Has 2 confernece titles to his credit and has helped Xavier the past 2 years get to the Sweet 16 and the Elite 8.


Mike Schaplowsky-Baylor- Ratings of 9-3-7-7. Hasnt been a head coach yet but has the ratings to be one. Has been at Baylor the past 4 years and each year has made the IAAUS tourament getting bounced in the 2nd round.


Orlando Wooster- Oklahoma- Ratings of 4-10-6-9 and an overall record of 76-80. Was the head Coach at Iowa State for 5 years and came close to playing .500 ball there. Clearly doing that is a feat and therefore he makes the list.


Brooks Olson- Pittsburgh- Ratings of 7-3-10-7 and an overall record of 68-90. Not great but he was the head man at Oregon for those 5 years and just couldnt ever seem to get it together. I'm thinking that it might work out for a little program.


Bobby Decastro- South Florida- Ratings of 10-2-7-4. Hasnt ever been a head coach yet and spent his entire career before this year at LSU. Has been to the post 5 times.


Stephen Woodyard- Marshall- Ratings of 7-1-4-10. Hasnt been a head coach yet and hasnt been all that successful at his stops at Cal State Fullerton and Marshall but did spend 2 years between Xavier and Rider where he went to the Elite 8 at Xavier and lost in a 2nd round game at Rider.


Brian Ham- Princeton- Ratings of 6-4-6-6. Has never been a head coach but has made the post season the past 3 years at Princeton.


Chris Floyd- Central Michigan- Ratings of 6-2-7-5. Hasnt beena head coach yet but has been to the post season in 3 out of his 9 seasons. Has really bounced around as an assistant with stops at Kansas State, Oklahoma, Miami and IUPI.


Jason Stackhouse- Witchia State- Ratings of 7-5-3-10. Hasnt been a head coach yet but has been to the post season 4 times. Like Chris above has bounced around a lot with stints at Indiana, Miami, Oregon State, Fordham, Richmond and North Dakota State.


Tony Chumley- Air Force- Ratings of 6-4-8-6. Hasnt been a head coach yet but has gone to the post season 7 times in his 9 year career.


William Hassler- New Mexico- Ratings of 4-2-7-10 and an overall record of 25-39. Looks like he got a raw deal at Louisiana Tech as 2 years wasnt enough to prove himself. Before taking that job he was an assistant with UNC making the post season 4 times loosing in the 2nd round, the Sweet 16, the Elite 8 and the Final 4.


Lazaro Angel- TCU- Ratings of 4-5-8-6. Never been a head man before but has made the post season in 5 seasons.


Tyree Thiel- Murray State- Ratings of 7-3-6-6- Once again hasnt been a head man before but has been to the post season in 5 seasons.


Nicolas Borg- Stanford- Ratings of 6-2-3-10. Has bounced around a lot at big time programs but wasnt able to stick until Stanford. Has helped them reach the IAAUS tourney in 3 out of his 4 seasons going to the 2nd round, Sweet 16and an Elite 8.


Otto McChesney- LSU- Ratings of 8-8-7-3 and an overall record of 111-113. Actually has a Conference championship with a team in my Conference UMBC. He spent the first 5 years of his career there guiding them to 3 post season trips before leaving to take the head Job at Tennessee Martin where he was fired after 2 seasons. Has already proven he can handle my conference


Douglas Vargas- Mississippi State- Ratings of 7-5-6-6. Hasnt been a head coach yet but has been a fixture at Mississippi state. Has spent all 9 years there helping them reach the post season in 6 of those 9 seasons.

[collegesportsfanms]

Mr. Muns,

I was sorry to hear that you were fired from the Big East. I thought you did a remarkable job there. I can't believe you weren't offered a position with any of the other big conferences. However, congrats on accepting the position as the America East Commish.

I hope that you can find a place for me at one of the schools in the America East. I feel I am ready to lead my own program. I don't have to tell you my credentials, you already know. Again, good luck and hopefully I'll be hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Mike Schaplowsky
Recruiting Coordinator- Baylor

[muns]

Originally Posted by collegesportsfanms

Mr. Muns,

I was sorry to hear that you were fired from the Big East. I thought you did a remarkable job there. I can't believe you weren't offered a position with any of the other big conferences. However, congrats on accepting the position as the America East Commish.

I hope that you can find a place for me at one of the schools in the America East. I feel I am ready to lead my own program. I don't have to tell you my credentials, you already know. Again, good luck and hopefully I'll be hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Mike Schaplowsky
Recruiting Coordinator- Baylor

ha ha loved this!!!!!

[muns]

After looking at the candidate list I have decided to give Floyd Smith at Vermont his walking papers as well.

That leaves me with 6 jobs to fill, and more than a few qualified candidtes to go through

[muns]

New America East Hires


Albany- The Albandy job is a total stinker like most in the America East jobs however what they have going for them that most of the other schools don't is that they are located in NY which is a mecca of basketball talent. If I could find a guy that could tap into that this program could turn around in a hurry. I was looking for a guy that had ties to the area and a guy that had a good recruiting rating. It would also be a plus if he had some head coaching experience.

I end of picking Whitney Arguello an assistant with Rhode Island for this job. His ratings of Ratings of 9-3-6-7 seem to fit the style that I want. His recruiting ratings is great, and he can develop the talent that he brings in. He is already close to the area as he just skips over from Rhode Island plus he brings in a nice set of stats as an assistant. He spent 4 years at Michigan and in the past 5 seasons at Rhode Island they made a post season tournament each year. In the end his resume was just too good to pass up here.


Boston University- I need to be mindful of how I got this job with the America East and the Boston alumni were a huge piece to this. I am sure that they want a huge name and the simple fact this year was there really weren't any out there to be had. Boston has dipped from a 42 Prestige to a 14 in just 9 short seaons. I'm positive the alumni base wants to see results in a hurry and I believe that I chose the right guy for the job out of the guys I had on my list.


Bobby Decastro an assistant with South Florida is going to be the new guy at Boston U. He has ratings of 10-2-7-4 which just screams he is qualified, but he also is only one of two coach's in the conference with a 10 in recruiting. In recruiting battles for talent that could play a huge role and a difference maker. He also comes from 2 programs that were in the power conferences in LSU and South Florida so that experience should be able to translate over to our little conference. Hopefully I wont get bashed too bad in the press for this one but really he might be the best guy out there this season for this situation.


Hartford- The Hartford just is an interesting one. While they aren't a powerhouse by any stretch of the imagination they also are not the conference doormat either. In looking back over the past 9 seasons here the worst season they had was 8-22 and that was the very first season. For this job I was looking for a guy that could be steady, a guy that could go with the ebs and flows that go with a with a small college job. The perfect guy was easy to find and he stuck out like a sore thumb.

Douglas Vargas from Mississippi State is the guy I tagged here. He has ratings of 7-5-6-6. Those really are solid ratings all across the board and he has been an assistant with Mississippi State all 9 of his seasons coaching. Between those 2 factors and the way he helped guide the Bulldogs to a post season in 6 out of his 9 seasons its easy to see why he was my clear choice for the Hartford post.


Maine- Another historical stinker of a job and is yet another school that has lost over half of its Prestige points in 9 short seasons. Not only is this job behind the 8 ball due to its location, but its tough to find a coach that wants to coach a job that nobody really wants to touch. The coach that I am looking for here needs to be able to recruit but also needs to be able to develop the talent better than most other coaches because i doubt whoever it is will be pulling in top 150 classes. If thats the case then its more important than ever to develop the guys that do end of coming to Maine.

The choice here was also easy. Brooks Olson from Pittsburgh will be the new head man of the Black Bears. He has ratings of 7-3-10-7. The ratings and the skill set are clearly there for him to be successful, however what made this job attractive to him is the fact that he hasn't had success anywhere else. He was the head man at Oregon for 5 seasons and ended up going 68-90. Unless he got another chance at a small time school none of the big boys were going to come calling again. Brooks will put the time in here at Maine and I'm hoping that it rolls into turning this program back around.


New Hampshire- This job has always been bottom of the barrel even in the lowly America East. Hopefully the new guy can change that so I needed to target someone that has had some success before and can use that to help recruit some decent talent here. This job was prob the hardest to fill and find a guy to take over just because of how bad they have been and currently are.

I ended up with prob the most accomplished coach in my search though which really fit what I was looking for. Jonas Marr who was an assistant at Xavier will be the new man running New Hampshire. His ratings are 10-10-2-3and he does have an overall record of 131-92. He spent 7 years at Winthrop before getting canned in his last year for going .500. If you take that last season out of the coaching equation and you have an individual that should have been getting looks at bigger schools. He also has 2 conference titles to his credit and has helped Xavier the past 2 years get to the Sweet 16and the Elite 8. His credentials immediately give New Hampshire some credit to go out and get some nice classes, and that is what I'm hoping the man can do.


Vermont- This is the best job in the conference no doubt about it. They have the 2nd best Prestige in the conf at 29 but are riding a post season berth 4 times in the past 4 years, the only team in the conf that can boast that. Historically they have slipped from the first year when they made the 2nd round of the IAAUS tourney and had a prestige of 55 but I think averaging 17 wins per season in 9 years in a nice accomplishment. I fired the last coach that was here (for 2 seasons) for the simple fact that I didn't think the coach deserved to be the head coach here to begin with, so I have high hopes for the cadamount head coaching position. The coach here needs to be able to recruit and develop the kids he brings in. I expect it the post season streaks to continue and hopefully continue to inch/bring the prestige up.

I chose to hire Mike Schaplowsky who has been with Baylor the past 4 years. I was shocked when he did not get offered a head job last season and the fact that I could land him this year should be a real positive for the America East. He has ratings of 9-3-7-7 and has helped bring in a top 25 recruiting class the past 4 seasons while at Baylor. At 34 to hand the program over to a guy with only 4 seasons under his belt might be a tad bit crazy, however if Mike brings that recruiting enthusiasm to Vermont and then can develop that talent there isn't any question this program could take off, and his future would be a shooting staff as big time program will come a calling.